Environmental Scrutiny Committee
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ENVIRONMENTAL SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 12 FEBRUARY 2010 Present: County Councillor Wakefield (Chairperson); County Councillors Aubrey, Clark, McKerlich, Jackie Parry, Pickard and Walsh Apologies: County Councillor Delme Bowen (Executive Member for Traffic and Transportation) 43 : MINUTES The minutes of the meeting held on 12 January 2010 were approved by the Committee as a correct record and signed by the Chairperson. 44 : DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST The Chairperson reminded Members of their responsibility under Article 16 of the Members’ Code of Conduct to declare any interests in general terms and complete personal interest forms at the start of the meeting and then, prior to the commencement of the discussion of the item in question, specify whether it is a personal or prejudicial interest. If the interest is prejudicial, Members would be asked to leave the meeting, and if the interest is personal, Members would be invited to stay, speak and vote. County Councillor Aubrey declared an interest as a non-executive Director of Cardiff Bus. He was able to remain in the meeting and take part in the debate. 45 : 2010-2011 BUDGET PROPOSALS The Chairperson advised that in line with the Council’s Constitution, this Committee had the opportunity to consider the outline Executive Budget proposals and those items in the draft budget that fall within the responsibility of this Committee, and make any recommendations to the Executive Business meeting on 18 February 2010, for consideration prior to the Executive’s final recommendations being considered by Council on 25 February 2010. To support this scrutiny exercise, Members had received copies of: • Savings Proposals for the appropriate Service Areas identifying the elements of risk; • Capital Programme 2010/11 to 2014/15; • Financial Pressures Summary of bids but forward by individual service areas as appropriate and the level of risk if these are not accepted; and • Extracts from the draft Corporate Plan 2010-2013, which were circulated under a separate cover. Members were also advised of the findings of the 2009 Ask Cardiff survey, which contained two contained two questions relating to the Council’s budget priorities. The survey showed that community safety and crime prevention was the top priority for Cardiff residents, followed by attracting and retaining jobs and then by litter, street cleansing and recycling. On 9 February 2010, two briefings open to all Members of each of the Scrutiny Committees had been held at which Councillor Mark Stephens, Executive Member, Finance & Service Delivery, and Christine Salter, City & County Treasurer, had set out the overall budget proposals and the impact of the settlement from the Welsh Assembly Government. The Chairperson welcomed Councillor Stephens and Ms Salter who were present at this meeting to assist with answering any questions during the Committee’s scrutiny of the budget. Economy, Enterprise and Infrastructure The Chairperson welcomed Paul Carter, Operational Manager, Transport Policy and Development and Peter Dawson, Operational Manager, Development who had been invited to make a presentation on the budget proposals for the service areas within Economy, Enterprise and Infrastructure and that fall within the remit of this Committee, full details of which were set out in the report. Paul Carter set out the salient points of the budget proposals for the Economy, Enterprise and Infrastructure service. The total controllable budget for the service was £23 million (including £11.8m Concessionary Travel Grant). Targeted savings of 7.5% equated to a total saving of £857k. Savings of £653k had been accepted, which equated to 76% of the targeted savings. Of the total savings of £653, the key savings proposals for Transportation amounted to £423k. The remaining £230k fell within the remit of the Economy and Culture Scrutiny Committee. The key savings proposals for Transportation included: • a reduction in bus operator costs • contribution from Section 106 funding for the Baycar bus service and other subsidised services • a reduction in non-statutory bus services • a reduction in printing costs for the Concessionary Travel scheme • a reduction in energy costs • staffing savings • a reduction in the public information budget • a reduction in non-statutory maintenance of traffic signal equipment • additional income from Events Park and Ride Paul Carter informed the Committee of the Capital Programme Bids (proposed capital expenditure) for 2010/11. Those bids were detailed as follows: Ongoing Schemes • Cardiff East Park and Ride – bid of £200k • Llanederyn Interchange – bid of £200k Expenditure Funded by Grants or Contributions • Sustainable Travel City Grant (to provide sustainable modes of transport and provide a range of infrastructure improvements to facilitate City Region connectivity) - £6.960m • Sustainable Travel City Grant (additional funding for City Centre improvements) - £3.4m • South East Wales Transportation Alliance (SEWTA) - £1.91m • Schemes funded by planning gain (S106) - £6.034m (£1.7 for highway/transportation schemes) Capital Schemes Funded from Revenue Savings/Income Generation/Other Income • Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE loan) - £614k – set up costs to provide for signage and road lining The Committee was advised that the Sustainable Transport City initiative was a key priority in the Council’s Corporate Plan. Paul Carter gave brief details of the increased range of the alternative travel options being developed and planned improvements to the transport infrastructure. These included: • St Mary Street pedestrianisation • Bus Box Scheme • Phase II of the Cardiff East Park and Ride • Phase II of the Llanederyn Interchange • Freebie Bus • Oibike Scheme • Cycle network improvements to Pont y Werin to be operational in Summer 2010 • Regional transport infrastructure • Development of a car club • Improvements to the bus network • Information kiosk/screens in the city centre • Civil parking enforcement The Chairperson thanked the Officer for his presentation and invited Members to reflect on the information received relating to the draft Budget. As part of the discussions the following matters were raised: • Members queried whether the £614k set aside for implementation of the Civil Parking Enforcement scheme was sufficient. Officers were confident that this figure was sufficient to roll out the CPE scheme. The Committee was advised that 40 wardens would be employed initially and it was envisaged that the service would be more efficient and more responsive to issues on the ground than at present. The Business Plan was flexible enough to allow for the CPE scheme to adapt to the needs of the service. The £614k was a loan which would need to be repaid over five years although officers hoped that it could be repaid sooner. The CPE scheme would ultimately be self financing. • Members raised concerned regarding traffic congestion in the east of the City along the Newport Road corridor. The Members asked whether any progress had been made on the proposals to provide a rail link from the St Mellons/Rumney areas into the City Centre. Officers explained that the Cardiff East Park and Ride scheme had been successful in reducing congestion in the East of the City. Phase II of the scheme would allow space for an additional 900 vehicles. Also, a proportion of the funding from SEWTA would be utilised to provide additional improvements to bus routes on Newport Road. Members were advised that officers were investigating the possibility of using the underutilised freight railway lines between Cardiff and Newport to provide a passenger service. Such as service would be separate from the high speed rail line. This however, was a long term project and officers felt that commuters in the East of the city should be encouraged to use the bus services in the short term. • Members sought clarification on whether using Section 106 funding to subsidise bus services was valid and sustainable. Officers explained that using Section 106 funding to subsidise local bus services was an entirely valid use of such resources. It was hoped that these bus services would eventually be self financing. Therefore it may be necessary to review the level of subsidy in the future. Members were advised that the budget setting process had provided an opportunity to review all supported bus routes and to cease supporting such services where, for example, competition existed, such as the service to Leckwith. • there was a discussion regarding the costs of the Concessionary Fare Scheme. It was envisaged that the cost of printing Concessionary bus passes would fall as all those eligible who had applied for a pass had now received one. In future, only passes would only be provided to those persons attaining 65 years of age or as replacements to lost or damaged passes. • the Committee questioned what the grant funding from Sustrans was being used for. Officers advised that these funds were primarily focused in the City Centre, works connecting Pont y Werin to the cycle network and work undertaken in the Cycling Strategy. • Officers were asked to guarantee that funding for improvements to the cycling network were not be used to undertake general improvements works. Officers assured the Committee that any works undertaken under the Sustainable Travel City banner were audited. • the Committee was advised that the Council receives an annual dividend from Cardiff Bus of £250k which forms part of the Council’s general budget. Highways and Waste Management The Chairperson welcomed Councillor